Mode of rolling sheet metal



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

B. LAUTH. MODE 0E ROLLING sEEET METAL.

No. 431,748. Patented July 8, 1890.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

. B. LAUTH.

MODE 0F ROLLING SHEET METAL.

No. 431,748 Patented July 8, 1890.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet B. LAUTH.

' MODE 0F ROLLING SHEET METAL. No. 431,748. Patented July 8, 1890.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BERNARD LAUTH, OF HOWARD, PENNSYLVANIA.

MODE OF ROLLING SHEET' METAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,748, dated July 8, 1890 Application filed September 26, 1887. Renewed December 12, 1889. serial No. 333,411. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD LAUTH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Howard, in the county of Center and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin theMethod of Making Sheet Metal, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in.

the method of reducing metal into thin sheets; and it has for its object the more rapid production of sheet metal without the employment of skilled labor, and at the same time produce a more uniform and better article.

My invention consists in the method hereinafter described of rolling metals of all kinds into sheets by rolling the bars from which the sheets are made to reduce them to plates, piling the plates into large packs, and heating the same to the proper Working or rolling heat, and then passing the pack back and forth through the rolls of a rolling-mill until the plates have been reduced to the desired thickness.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a rolling-mill adapted to roll metal into thin sheets. Fig. 2 is a top or plan View. Fig. 3 is an end view. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lower portion or table of the machine.

In the manufacture of sheet metal as heretofore practiced the bars from which theonly and back over the top of the upper rollso as to bring the pack into proper position for being again passed through the rolls. By this way of making metal sheets it is necessary to employ skilled rollers or workmen to manipulate the pack during the rolling process, in order to keep the sheets or plates in proper alignment while being rolled; but by my method and apparatus I am enabled to roll a large number of sheets at one operation and preserve the proper alignment of the plates without the employment of skilled labor.

A indicates the housing orframe of the machine or mill, in which are mounted the rolls B and (J, the upper roll being made adjustable in the housings by means of the screwshafts D or in any other suitable manner.

E indicates the tables located on each side of the rolls B and C, said tables being composed of frames F, in which are mounted the rollers G, the tops of said rollers being on a level with the top of the lower roll C. The rollers G in both tables are driven in any suitable manner, and with the rolls B and O are provided with any suitable reversing mechanism by which their direction of rotation is changed after each pass of the pack.

H and H are guide-plates for directing the pack to and from the rolls, the plates H being adj ustably secured to the side of the tables. The plate H is located above the rollers G, and are connected to the ends of the screwshafts I, said screw-shafts being mounted in suitable bearings K, The outer ends of the screw-shafts I are provided with pinionwheels L, which mesh with each other, so that the shafts I can be rotated simultaneously to move the plate toward or from the pack. Both. ends of the plates H and H are flared out, as shown at M, to prevent the end of the pack from striking .said plates, and also to guide the pack along the sides of the plates as the pack travels to and from the rolls B and O. The object of the adjustable plates H is to straighten or bring the edges of the sheets into proper alignment in case any of the plates should be displaced or moved so as to project over the edge of the pack. By this arrangement I am enabled to have all the sheets of the pack in proper alignment before passing the pack through the rolls, and in this way I am enabled to make all the sheets in the pack and each individual sheet of a uniform thickness.

In operating under my process the bars are reduced to plates of the desired thickness and arranged in piles or packs, containing from fifty to one hundred and fifty plates, more or less, and I do not limitmyself to any the number maybe varied without departing from the spirit of my invention; but in all cases a much greater number of plates are placed in the pack than has heretofore been used, so that the pack cannot be handled in the ordinary way, owing to its great weight. The packs are now heated to the proper temperature for rolling, and passed back and forth through the rolls l3 and C until the plates are reduced to sheets of the desired thickness.

The object of making the packs thicker and larger than heretofore is to get a large body of metal in the packs, in order to retain the heat and keep the metal in condition to be rolled until the rolling operation is completed. A further advantage is gained by rolling a greatnumber of sheets simultaneously, in that the frictional movement of the plates upon each other, caused by rolling in both directions, tends to polish and smooth the surfaces of the sheets, and in this Way a superior grade of sheet metal is produced. It

will be noticed that by reason of the guides the pack is passed back and forth through the rolls at the same point, which causes the rolls to expand uniformly at the point through which the pack is passed, thus obviating all tendency of the sheets to buckle and pinch, as is the case where the pack is passed through the rolls at different points, where the rolls have an unequal expansion and are of different diameters. I may find it convenient and desirable to use the three-high rolls instead of the two-high rolls shown in the drawings, and where the three-high rolls are used the tables E should be arranged so that they can be raised tobring the pack into position to enter above the middle roll on the return passage of the pile or pack.

I do not limit myself to the reduction of any particular kind of metal to sheets, as my invention is applicable for the manufacture of sheet-iron, sheet-steel, tin plates, zinc plates, copper plates, sheet-brass, &c., and more especially in the reduction of old steel rails to sheet-steel.

In Patent No. 335,938, granted to me February 9th, 1886, I have described and claimed a method of reducing old steel rails to plates without producing seams or cracks in the same and this invention is specially adapted to reduce the plates produced by the method described in said patent to sheet-steel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

l. The method herein described of reducing metal to thin sheets, which consists in piling the plates into large packs, heating the same to the proper rolling temperature, and finally passing said pack back and forth through the rolls of a rolling-mill until the plates are reduced to sheets of the desired thickness, as set forth.

2. The method herein described of reducing metal to thin sheets, which consists in piling the plates into large packs, heating the same to the proper rolling temperature, and'finally passing said pack back and forth through the rolls of a reversible mill until the plates are reduced to sheets of the desired thickness, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BERNARD LAUTI-I.

Witnesses:

B. O. LAUTH, T. B. SANDERS. 

